When it comes to ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI, audience as well as trade is pretty much convinced that the character of Sultan (which is modeled on Haji Mastan) is tailor-made for Ajay Devgn who pretty much seems to be in his 'intense and dramatic' zone here.

"Well, that's what people say even though I never say that", says Ajay with a smile, "Any role can be said to be tailor-made for anyone. The fact remains though that you have to work hard on every role. You have to study a character and then bring in your own interpretation so that you can perform it well. Aisa nahi hota that a director comes and tell you that 'Hey Ajay, I wrote this role for you so you do it' and then you feel glad about it and give an instant nod of consent. So even though Milan (Luthria) is a friend and said that he wanted me to play Sultan, I asked him to narrate the script to me before saying 'yes'."

While friendship between Jha and Devgn may have met some roadblocks for some duration at least, what was it about the relationship between Ajay and Milan that made they stay away for full seven years? It was way back in 1999 that Ajay had given a break to debutant Milan for KACHCHE DHAAGE and then also followed it up with CHORI CHORI (2003). However, the two went their different ways with Milan making DEEWAR (Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna), TAXI NO. 9211(Nana Patekar, John Abraham) and HAT TRICK (Nana Patekar, Danny Denzongpa, Paresh Rawal, Kunal Kapoor) with Ajay not featuring in any of the three films.

"Issme koyi badi baat nahi hai", Ajay shrugs away any insinuations, "Casting is done according to scripts and there are some characters that suit and some which don't. Milan and I have been friends for quite some time and ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI is one film where he thought of me as the right fit and hence came to me. In any case, In fact I used to be open with him around casting for these films as well and even share my suggestions. I was always in loop."